Tobii Technology today unveiled the world’s first laptop with integrated
eye control. The prototype laptop has been developed in collaboration
with computer manufacturer Lenovo and will be shown publicly for the
first time at CeBIT in Hannover, March 1-5.

March 01, 2011 03:14 AM Eastern Standard Time

STOCKHOLM & HANNOVER, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lenovo, the world’s fourth largest manufacturer of personal computers,
has built the world’s first eye-controlled laptop, using eye tracking
technology from Tobii. The laptop is a fully functional conceptual
prototype and an important breakthrough for Tobii in its mission to
bring its eye tracking technology to serial production and consumer
products.

Eye control – a truly natural interface

Most computer manufacturers today endeavor to enhance their products by
adding more and more natural interfaces. Using our eyes to point, select
and scroll is completely intuitive and complements traditional control
interfaces, such as the mouse and keyboard, in a very natural way.

“More than anything else, the Tobii laptop prototype is proof that our
eye tracking technology is mature enough to be used in standard computer
interfaces. To reach a state where the technology is part of the average
computer, we need to make it smaller and cheaper. We believe that this
can be realized in a couple of years by partnering with the right
manufacturer,” comments Henrik Eskilsson, CEO of Tobii Technology.

The Tobii-Lenovo collaboration

The first batch of eye-controlled laptops consists of 20 units split
evenly between Tobii Technology and Lenovo for development and demo
purposes.

“On the one hand, we have Lenovo, a great partner, representing
industry-leading expertise in computer manufacturing and hardware
development. Tobii, on the other hand, has the world’s leading eye
tracking technology and unique expertise in eye tracking and eye control
interfaces. We are very happy with the outcome of this collaboration,”
Henrik Eskilsson concluded.

Envision eye control in PC’s

For users, eye control is thrilling and makes the computer interaction
more effective. It is as if the computer understands you; just glance at
an icon or gadget and more information will be presented; You can zoom
pictures or maps and automatically center on the area you are looking
at; The computer can auto-dim and brighten the screen when it recognizes
your eyes to increase battery time. Eye control can also speed things up
by enabling new and intuitive ways to switch between open windows, and
browse your emails and documents.

“We anticipate that people will be extremely excited to be able to
control their computer with their eyes,” said Barbara Barclay, general
manager of Tobii North America. “But what we find most exciting are the
opportunities that eye control as part of natural user interfaces offer
consumer electronics manufacturers in a range of product categories. We
look forward to working with our partners to find many exciting ways to
share and integrate this technology to advance their work.”

For a live presentation at CeBIT March 1-5, please visit our booth C13,
Hall 9.

About Tobii Technology

Tobii Technology is the world’s leading vendor of eye tracking and eye
control, a technology that makes it possible for computers to know
exactly where users are looking. Our eye tracking technology has
revolutionized research in many fields and enabled communication for
thousands of people with special needs. Looking forward Tobii’s mission
is to bring eye tracking into broader use. Some of that future is
already here. We provide market-leading eye tracking technology to
industrial partners in areas such as hospitals, diagnostics, vehicle
safety, gaming and computer manufacturing. Tobii continues to realize
its visions, showing continuous and rapid year-to-year revenue growth,
and receiving numerous awards and recognition for its accomplishments.
From our head office in Stockholm, Sweden, our reach is as broad as our
vision. With offices in the US, Germany, Norway, Japan and China and a
worldwide network of resellers and partners, we are truly a global
company.